An Innocent Game
by schoolgirl101
Summary: When Sharpay invites the gang down for a sleepover, they have to play the classic sleepover game...Truth and Dare, right? Wrong. PICTIONARY. The innocent game that revealed so much...TROYELLA
1. Part I

An Innocent Game

Summary: When Sharpay invites the gang down for a sleepover, they have to play the classic sleepover game...Truth and Dare, right? Wrong. PICTIONARY. The innocent game that revealed so much...TROYELLA

Disclaimer: I don't own any high school musical characters, and I don't own Disney either. I don't think I really own anything, I'm just writing this for my own consent!

Author's Note: I feel like I haven't written something in so long guys! I'm writing this three-shot. Each of the chapter's is really short, but I wanted this in three separate parts. I never really wrote something "unique." So I spent some time thinking about this one. I hope you enjoy it. Always, schoolgirl 101

* * *

"Guys...let's play a game!" Sharpay announced clapping her two hands together.

The gang raised their heads and turned to look at Sharpay. They were all there. Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Jason, Kelsi, Ryan and Martha.

"I said, let's play a game!" Sharpay yelled louder.

"We heard you the first time Sharpay!" Chad groaned.

"Well, good! We've been stuffing our faces with so much food, I swear, I gained like five pounds! Let's do something fun!" Sharpay smiled.

"And what kind of fun are you talking about?" Kelsi questioned.

"I don't know. Let's do something...fun."

"Oh no. You don't mean Truth or Dare?" Zeke frowned.

"No!! The last time we played that I was forbidden to wear pink for a week!" Sharpay said in horror. "And besides Zekey, you don't like it, so we don't have to play it." Sharpay smiled as she squeezed Zeke's hand and leaned over to kiss him.

Taylor made a face. "If you guys start to make out in front of all of us...I swear..."

Sharpay laughed and turned to look at Taylor. Her brown eyes stared directly into Taylor's and she responded, "Look in the mirror hun. You and Chad are at it all the time."

"We are not!" Taylor blushed a bright red.

Chad shrugged. "I can't help it if I like my lady."

"Chad, not helping!" Taylor smacked Chad lightly in the back of his head. "Shar...we do not do that!"

"Hate to admit it, but Tay...you and Chad do make out in front of us a lot." Kelsi said.

"And you don't share a kiss with Jason every once in a while either!" Taylor retorted.

Kelsi blushed.

"Well, so do Ryan and Martha! I mean, it's a normal thing for a boyfriend and girlfriend to do!" Kelsi replied embarrassed.

Gabriella looked at the gang and awkwardly smiled. What could she do? Her and Troy were friends, only friends.

And yet she wished for so much more...

Gabriella sighed, and without realizing it, she leaned into Troy.

Troy looked down at Gabriella and smiled.

The gang noticed Gabriella's actions and turned to look at the two. Their friends eyes bore into the two, until Troy uneasily replied, "Hey guys, me and Gabs...just friends. JUST FRIENDS. So quit staring at us."

Zeke looked at Troy cautiously before starting to laugh. Pretty soon, the whole gang began to laugh, and Gabriella, slightly tense, joined in. "Chill Troy! We know you and Gabs are just friends. You were acting like there's a serial killer on the loose or something!"

Troy looked at Zeke and laughed. "It's going to be a long night..." Troy mumbled softly to himself.

* * *

"So what kind of game did you want to play then?" Gabriella asked as she looked closely at Sharpay.

"Pictionary!" Sharpay squealed.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"Isn't that the game where you draw something, and a person guesses what it is?" Jason asked.

Sharpay nodded. "Yeah. I figured we mix things up a bit. I mean, Truth and Dare is a classic...but we can make Pictionary a classic too, right?"

"Are you really serious about this one Sharpay?" Taylor asked.

"Very. I mean...I got it all planned." Sharpay said as she got up and left the room. She came back holding one of Ryan's hats, and rolling out a white board from her room.

"What are you doing with my hat Shar?" Ryan asked getting up from the floor.

"Oh, shut it Ryan. I put the words and the markers in this hat. I won't answer, but I can draw something. I also thought of a way to make the game harder."

"And what did you come up with?" Zeke asked.

"Well instead of drawing what the thing is, I thought we'd have to draw a phrase associated to the thing." Sharpay announced.

"I don't get it," Taylor replied.

"Um, like if your word was hat, you would draw Ryan and a picture of the world. The phrase would be Ryan's world. Hat's are Ryan's world, right?"

Ryan nodded. "That's a good one Sharpay."

Sharpay nodded. "I thought so. So who's up for playing?"

"I'm in."

"Me too."

The gang responded and nodded their heads. At least it was better than Truth or Dare.

* * *

"Okay...so let's see who goes first..." Sharpay mumbled. "Taylor!"

"Why do I have to go first Sharpay?" Taylor stammered.

"Cause you can be the first person to choose who goes next!" Sharpay smiled.

Taylor looked at Sharpay and sighed. "Fine. But only to get this over with. And guys, trust me...I don't draw very good."

The gang laughed. "Nothing to be ashamed of." Troy remarked.

Taylor laughed and walked over to Ryan's hat. She grabbed a piece of paper from the hat, and a marker nearby. "Okay, here goes," Taylor breathed as she unfolded the piece of paper.

"Yes!" Taylor grinned. "This one is so easy." She slowly approached the board and began to draw.

Silence.

"Look, it's a circle!" Gabriella laughed. "Your brilliant Taylor!"

"Oh, be quiet Gabriella!" Taylor threatened as she continued to draw.

The group watched as Taylor continued to draw. The circle was taking the shape of a face. Taylor's hand moved to the top of the head, and began to draw huge scribbles.

"Why does that person have extremely large hair?" Chad stupidly asked.

Troy looked at Chad intently hoping he was being sarcastic. Troy was sadly mistaken.

"Seriously...guys," Chad looked across the room.

"AFRO!!" Troy yelled at Chad.

"Oh!" Chad answered. "Ha ha! I know who it is now!"

Zeke looked at Chad and rolled his eyes.

"Let me just finish the phrase." Taylor insisted. She drew a plus sign and began on her next symbol. When Taylor finished, she turned around to face her friends.

"Person!"

"Guy!"

"Man!"

"The last one." Taylor nodded.

"Afro man?" Kelsi proclaimed.

"That's the phrase." Taylor nodded.

"Chad," the gang said at once.

* * *

"Now that my part is over," Taylor spoke as she began to erase her drawing off the board. "I choose...Sharpay."

Sharpay shook her head. "I had a feeling that one was coming." She stood up and took the marker from Taylor's hand. Sharpay picked up a piece of paper from the hat and squealed when she read the words. "I hoped I would get this one!"

Sharpay's hand rapidly began to draw.

"What in the world is that?" Zeke raised his eyebrows as he looked at the board.

"It looks like a hand," Jason informed his friends.

"I think it looks more like a foot," Ryan commented.

Sharpay nodded. "Foot, right. Okay, next one."

Sharpay drew what resembled a shirt and a pair of pants.

"Shirt!" Gabriella said.

"Shirt and Pants." Troy added.

"Wait...clothes!" Martha spat out.

"Yes, that's it!" Sharpay giggled as she jumped up and down.

"Okay, so foot and clothes is the phrase?" asked Zeke.

"I don't get it..." Troy claimed.

"I think Sharpay is trying to say clothes for your feet." Gabriella said scrunching up her nose.

"What is clothes for your feet?!" the boys said puzzled.

"Shoes!" The girls mused.

"Great job girls!" Sharpay said nodding. She smiled happily at Gabriella, Taylor, Kelsi, and Martha before sitting down next to Zeke.

"Trust Sharpay to put the word shoes in this game," Troy muttered.

"I heard that Bolton!" Sharpay nagged. "You Bolton...next!"

Troy gulped.


	2. Part II

"You're really going to make a guy play this game?" Troy asked.

"C'mon Troy," Chad responded as he looked at Troy. "Do it for all the manly men out there. 'Cause all manly men love to draw."

Troy shot Chad a look before getting up and walking over to Ryan's hat. His hand rummaged through the pieces of scrap paper until he grabbed one randomly. Troy was shocked to read the word.

_Gabriella._

'How am I supposed to make a phrase about Gabriella?' Troy thought. 'She's my best friend and all…what would I make for her?' he thought to himself.

"C'mon Troy, the word can't be all that hard." Zeke said.

"You don't know the beginning of it," Troy whispered. Troy Bolton was in love with Gabriella Montez. He never had the guts to say it to her, but he sure thought about it a lot. Troy sort of wished he had the guts to tell her, but Gabriella was only a friend to him. Troy would never want to ruin a great friendship with Gabriella.

"We haven't got all day man," Chad wailed. "I'm beginning to actually enjoy this game."

Troy sighed and walked up to the board. "Here goes nothing..."

Troy quickly wrote the letter _m_ on the board.

"Troy...you can't write letters on the board!" Gabriella laughed.

"Sorry!" Troy said. "Just this one...I swear."

The group of friends looked at Troy and nodded.

Troy looked back at the board and drew a plus symbol. He then drew what resembled an eye.

"The first word is my!" Sharpay hollered.

"Sharpay, you can't guess...remember?" Taylor asked.

"Oh, sorry." Sharpay said softly.

"Well, whatever. That was the word, so here's the next word." Troy stated.

Troy thought carefully before drawing two circles. One was a big circle, and the other was a smaller circle. Troy drew an arrow next to the big circle.

"Is it big?" Jason questioned.

"Well, sort of. It's a word similar to it." Troy said.

"Troy!" Sharpay yelled. "No giving hints!"

"Sorry Sharpay," Troy stuttered.

"Okay so if it's not big, then is it large?" Jason asked again.

Troy shook his head.

"Huge?"

"Gigantic?"

"Ginormous?" Chad grinned.

"No," Troy sighed.

"Is it great?" Gabriella asked.

Troy turned towards Gabriella and happily nodded. "Add -est to the word."

"Troy, stop giving hints!!"

"Sorry Sharpay, I didin't realize." Troy managed to say.

"It's alright." Sharpay sighed.

"So far the phrase is _My Greatest_," Martha said.

"Yeah. So last and final word." Troy agreed as he began to draw once more.

Troy's hand moved carefully and within a few seconds, resembled a person.

"Person!"

"Guy!"

"Human!"

"Man!"

Troy groaned as he looked at his picture. He knew this word was going to be the hardest. 'How do I draw a friend? Troy questioned himself.

Flashback:

"_So Gabriella, you want to come over to my house after school?" Troy casually asked as he watched Gabriella put her stuff into her locker._

"_Sure." Gabriella smiled at Troy. "I love your house, and your parents. They're so nice."_

_Troy laughed. "They seem to like you too."_

_Gabriella and Troy began to walk down the East High hallway, and out the door._

_Gabriella in thought, suddenly stopped, and Troy looked at her in surprise._

"_Everything alright Gabriella?" he asked._

"_I know this is a stupid question, but am I your friend, Troy?"_

_Troy paused and looked at Gabriella in question. "Of course you are Gabriella. We've been friends for at least a month already. Why?"_

"_No reason." Gabriella stared at Troy happily. She slowly intertwined her hands with Troy. "Friends hold each other's hands, right?"_

_Troy looked at Gabriella, hoping she didn't see his flushed face. "Yeah. Friends hold each other's hands._

End of Flashback

Troy scratched the back of his neck before continuing to draw. Troy drew another person and connected their hands together. "Hopefully, Gabriella gets it," he whispered.

Unfortunately, Gabriella didn't get it. Troy kicked himself as he watched his friends come up with meaningless words.

"People?"

"Couple?"

"Pair?"

"Taco!" Chad rolled on the ground with laughter.

Troy shook his head. He knew Chad was trying to lighten up the game, but it wasn't working too well. Troy was up at the board for too long, and he was losing it. 'Friends love each other right?' he asked himself.

Without thinking, Troy drew a heart around the two people.

"Wait is that love?" Taylor blurted.

"My greatest love?" Martha concluded.

Troy's eyes widened as he looked at the board. 'What did I just draw?'

"Oh!" Chad grinned from ear to ear. "The word is Gabriella!"


	3. Part III

Troy looked at Chad his face filled with shock. Troy's eyes met Gabriella's, and he couldn't read the mixed signals Gabriella was sending.

"Excuse me," Gabriella mumbled as she rapidly walked out of the room.

When Troy was sure Gabriella was out of the room, he yelled. Loudly.

"Guys, what was that?!" Troy yelled.

"Troy, you're the one who wrote _My Greatest Love_." Zeke said. "We all knew it was Gabriella, but you actually had the guts to draw that out?"

"That wasn't the phrase guys!" Troy shouted.

"Oh..."

Silence.

"Then what was it?" Sharpay asked bewildered.

"It was _My Greatest Friend_." Troy said exasperated. "And now...I have no idea what to say to Gabriella."

"Well whether, you meant to draw that phrase or not." Taylor said. "We all know your heart meant to say that."

Troy sighed.

"We all know that...except for Gabriella."

He groaned.

"Talk to her Troy."

* * *

Gabriella curled up in Sharpay's linen closet and sighed. She wasn't so sure what she was doing. She was hiding from Troy, yes. But, Gabriella had no idea why.

She really loved Troy; she loved him for the whole year she had known him. So why was she hiding from him? Gabriella really had no idea why.

Gabriella's eyes scanned the linen closet. Sharpay's house was big, and no one in his or her greatest mind would want to check a linen closet. Gabriella was sure of that. She sniffled and rubbed her eyes softly.

"Am I afraid that the whole thing was a misunderstanding?" she confessed softly.

"Gabriella...is that you?" a voice said from outside the door.

Troy thought he had heard a sniffle from behind the door, and he hoped Gabriella was in there. He slowly turned the knob of the door, and was relieved to know it was unlocked. What made him more relieved was seeing Gabriella sitting softly in the corner of the closet.

"Gabriella, are you alright?" Troy asked softly.

"Yeah," she mumbled. You worry too much Troy." she attempted to smile. Gabriella was pretty sure her attempt wasn't working, but she was trying.

"Why are you crying?" Troy spoke as he leaned down to sit next to Gabriella.

"I...I don't know," she confessed.

"I'm sorry if that game hurt you Gabriella. That phrase...it wasn't meant to be there. It was all a mistake." Troy croaked.

"Oh..."

"I wanted to draw _My Greatest Friend_, but it didn't turn out like that, and I guess I drew love instead. I didn't mean to, and if that hurt you, I'm sorry Gabriella. I mean...it's _just an innocent game_, right?"

Gabriella bit her lip. She was crushed.

"Right Troy." Gabriella stammered. "Just _an innocent game_. I guess I wasn't expecting that one coming. No hard feelings, right?" she choked.

Troy nodded and sat quietly next to Gabriella. He knew she was hurt, but he wasn't so sure why. "Here goes nothing," Troy breathed.

"Gabriella..." Troy confessed. "Look at me."

Troy's crystal blue eyes met Gabriella's brown teary ones. "As much as that phrase was a mistake, it wasn't," he breathed.

"Taylor told me that in my heart, I meant to say that phrase, and she's right. I guess I didn't have the guts to say this but," Troy took a deep breath. You're my greatest love," he whispered.

Gabriella's heart beat wildly and she looked down at her hands. They were trembling madly. Gabriella opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She had no idea what to tell him.

"Troy, I'm sorry," Gabriella spoke her words carefully. "But, you're wrong."

Troy stared intently at Gabriella before looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry Gabriella, I'm going to--I think I'm gonna leave. I shouldn't have told you that," he said quietly.

Troy was just turned down by Gabriella, and he couldn't take it. He felt his heart ripping into two.

Gabriella looked at Troy's hand on the doorknob, and her eyes widened. With the courage she had, Gabriella did what she had to do.

"Troy," Gabriella replied as she grabbed onto his hand and pulled him down.

Troy stumbled and landed back on the floor looking back at Gabriella.

"You're wrong Troy."

"You said that already," he mumbled.

"Because you are. You're wrong." Gabriella repeated. "This isn't _an innocent game_."

"Not anymore." she whispered.

Gabriella leaned closer to Troy and closed her eyes.

And they kissed.


End file.
